Friction-reducer for loom-shafts



A. E. RHO ADES.

rmcnow BEDUCER FOR 1 10M sums.

APPLICATION FILED APR, 8. 1919.

1,374,825. Patented Apr. 12, 1921.

2 SHEETSSHEET 1.

Figl.

A. E. RHOADES. FBICTI-ON'R'EDUCER FOR LOOM SHAFI S.

APPLICATION FILED APR- B, 1919.

Patented Apr. 12, 1921."

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2" Fig.2.

nally of the sha UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALONZO E. RHOADES, OF HOPEDALE, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR T0 DRAPER CORPO- RATION, OF HOPEDALE, MASSACHUSETTS, A

CORPORATION OF MAINE.

FRICTION-REDUCER FOR LOOM-SHAFTS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 12, 1921.

Application filed April 8, 1919. Serial No. 288,458.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALoNzo E. RrIoADEs, a citizen of the .United States, residing at Hopedale, county of Worcester, State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Friction-Reducers for Loom-Shafts, of which the following description, in con nection with the accompanying drawing, is a specification, like characters on the drawing representing like parts. i

This invention relates to frictionreducing mechanism for loom shafts in which the shaft is actuated through a friction drive comprising a frictional member secured to the shaft and a pulley rotatably and slidably mounted upon said shaft and provided with a complementary frictional member adapted to be forced into engage-.

ment with the frictional member upon the shaft when the galley is shifted longitudi- In loom driving mechanisms of this character the hub of one of the gears upon the driving shaft, which usually is the crank shaft of the loom, is forced against one of the journal boxes in which the shaft is mounted and creates considerable friction which of course causes a waste of power.

Furthermore the wearing of the journal box and gear hub will eventually cause an endwise movement of the shaft which will somewhat interfere with the alinement of the connections between the shaft and the la lhe object of the present invention is to provide an anti-friction means for compensating the endwise thrust upon the shaft produced when the pulley 1s held in engagement with the frictional member upon the driving shaft so that the hub of the gear will not engage the end of the journal bearing. Thus a saving of power is accomplished and proper alinement of the mechanisms carried by and operated by the shaft is insured.

A further object of the invention is to provide a device of this character in which the compensating means may be readily assembled upon the loom and also may be accurately adjusted.

Further objects of the invention will more fully appear from the following description and the accompanying drawings and will be pointed out in the annexed claims. v

portion of the loom frame and the driving mechanism to illustrate my invention as applied thereto. j

Fig. 2 is a view looking toward the end of the driving shaft showing in elevation the end of the hand wheel and the compensating mechanism for preventing endwise movement of the shaft.

Fig. 3 is a side elevation showing the compensating mechanism which is attached to the loom side and its relation to the shaft and hand wheel carried by said shaft, and,

Fig. at is a detail vertical sectional view on lines l- Fig. 2.

Inasmuch as this invention relates to the driving mechanism for the loom only a suflicient portion of the loom frame is shown as is required to illustrate my invention in its relation to the main driving shaft, or crank shaft, of the loom. The loom frame may be of any usual character comprising loom sides 1, 2, a breast beam 3, having" an extension t containing a slot for a knockoff lever 5. The usual shipper lever 6 which is operated by the knock-off. lever is connected by a link 7 to a shipper 8 which has a bifurcated end 9 engaging a stud 10 in a sleeve 11 having suitable connection with the hub 12 of the driving pulley 13. The driving pulley 13 is rotatably mounted upon the driving shaft 14- which is the crank shaft of the loom. The crank shaft is mounted in bearings 15,.16 carried by the loom side and desirably has upon the end farthest from the driving pulley a hand wheel 17 by means of which the loom may be turned over manually when desired.

The crank shaft 1a is provided with the usual cranks 18 and 19 which are connected to the lay by links 20 and 21. The crank shaft has fixed upon it the usual gear 22 which is located closely adjacent to the end of the journal box 15, its hub ordinarily bearing against the outer end of said journal box. The crank shaft may also be provided with other usual gears contained within the gear casing 23. The shaft 14 is also provided with africtional member which as illustrated herein is in the form of a disk Qtrigidly secured to the shaft and provided with frictional instrumentalities 25 adapted to engage a complementary frictional member 26 carried by the pulley 13.

The construction thus described is of a usual type, the frictional member 26 upon the pulley 13 being caused to engage the ment between the frictional members is released and the loom permitted to stop while i the pulley is driven idly.

In the old construction thus described the V hub of the gear 22 is forced against the end of the journal box 15 when the pulley 13 is shifted into driving position and considerable friction is produced which causes a waste of power, also the wearing of the hub of the gear 22 and the end of the journal box 15 permits a slight endwise movement of the crank shaft 14 which destroys the alinement of the connection of the links 20 and 21 from the cranks 18 and 19 to the lay, thus increasing the amount of friction and further wasting power.

llhe present invention contemplates the provision of an anti-friction compensating device which will counteract the endwise thrust upon the shaft so that the hub of the gear 22 will not wear against the journal.

box 15 and the wastage of power heretofore caused by such friction will be eliminated. 'Any form of anti-friction thrust bearing may be employed within the scope of my invention. A preferred embodiment of my invention which is illustrated herein comprises an anti-friction thrust bearing operating against the end of the shaft, said thrust bearing being adjustable both vertically and laterally, in order that it may be properly assembled upon the apparatus and adjusted if necessary to take up wear.

In the preferred construction illustrated herein a bracket 27 is secured to the loom side by bolts 28 passing through slots 29 in said bracket and anchored in the frame so that the bracket is capable of vertical adjustment. A second bearing supporting bracket 30 L-shaped in form and provided with one or more strengthening ribs is secured to the bracket 27 by bolts 31 extending through slots 32 so that the bracket 30 may be adjusted longitudinally in the di-.

rection of the. crank shaft 14. The bracket 30 extends across the end of the shaft and is bifurcated at its lower end to present two arms 33 and 34: having apertures to receive trunnion pins 35, and 36 upon a thrust block 37, the axes of the trunnions 35 and 36 bemg normal to the axes of the crank shaft 14-. The thrust block 37' is positioned closely adjacent the hand wheel 17 which is pro vided with a flat face or race 38 and antifriction instrumentalities are interposed be tween the thrust block 37 and the race 38. ,Any type of antifriction instrumentalities may be used. As illustrated-herein rollers 39 and 40 are journaled upon a shaft 41 which extends transversely across the axis of the shaft 14, said rollers 39 and 40 hearing against the race at lines diametrically opposite the axis of the crank shaft 14c and at equal distances therefrom.

By reason of this construction a constant and invariable compensating pressure is maintained axially of the crank shaft 14: irrespective of any flexures in the shaft or slight lateral movements due to the wearing of the journals in which the crank shaft is mounted.

It will be understood that the embodiment of the invention disclosed herein is illustrative and not restrictive and that the thrust bearing may be otherwise constructed within the spirit and scope of my invention as defined by the following claims, and

that the race against which the thrust block operates may, instead of being a hand wheel, be in the form of a collar secured to the shaft or an enlargement of the shaft and that such collar or enlargement may be positioned at any desired point along the shaft conveniently to cooperate with the bearing block of a suitable thrust bearing. Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is;

1. In a loom comprising a driving shaft journaled in bearings in the loom side and having a frictional clutch member thereon, a driving pulley having a complementary frictional clutch member rotatably mounted on said shaft, clutch shifting means opand acting normally to press said frictional members into engagement, and anti-friction means acting in opposition to said pulley shifting means and operable to prevent endwise movement of said shaft in its bearings.

3. In a loom comprising a driving shaft presenting a flat end surface and having a frictional member thereon, a driving pulley having a complementary frictional member rotatably and slidably mounted upon said shaft, means for. shifting said pulley endwise of said shaft to engage and disengage said frictional members; antifriction means acting upon the flat end of said shaft in opposition to said pulley shifting means and operating to prevent endwise movement of said shaft in its bearings and means for adjusting said antifriction means in the direction of the axis of said shaft.

4:. In a loom comprising a driving shaft having a frictional member thereon, a driving pulley having a complementary frictional member rotatably and slidably mounted upon said shaft, means for shifting said pulley endwise of said shaft to engage and disengage said frictional members an end thrust bearing for compensating the endwise thrust of said pulley when in driving engagement comprising a race carried by said shaft, a thrust block mounted on trunnions normal to the axis of said shaft and rigidly supported against movement in the direction of the axis of said shaft having rollers engaging said race at points diametrically opposite the axis of said shaft.

5. In a loom comprising a driving shaft having a frictional member thereon, a driving pulley having a complementary frictional member rotatably and slidably mounted upon said shaft, means for shifting said pulley endwise of said shaft to engage and disengage said frictional members; an end thrust bearing for compensating the endwise thrust of said pulley when in driving engagement comprising a race carried by said shaft, a thrust block mounted on trunnions normal to the axis of said shaft and rigidly supported against movement in the direction of the axis of said shaft having rollers engaging said race at points diametrically opposite the axis of said shaft and at equal distances from said aXiS. V

6. In a loom comprising a driving shaft having a frictional member thereon, a driving pulley having a complementary frictional member rotatably and slidably mounted upon said shaft, means for shifting said pulley endwise of said shaft to engage and disengage said frictional members; an end thrust bearing for compensating the endwise thrust of said pulley when in driving engagement comprising a race carried by said shaft, a pivotally mounted thrust block rigidly supported against movement in the direction of the axis of said shaft and antifriction instrumentalities between said thrustblock and said race, and means for adjustably positioning said bearing block in the direction of the axis of said shaft.

7. In a loom comprising a driving shaft having a frictional member thereon, a driving pulley having a complementary frictional member rotatably and slidably mounted upon said shaft, means for shifting said pulley endwise of said shaft to engage and disengage said frictional members; an end thrust bearing for compensating the endwise thrust of said pulley when in driving engagement comprising a hand wheel upon the end of said shaft having a fiat race of larger diameter than said shaft, a thrust block mounted in trunnions and rigidly supported against movement in the direction of the axis of said shaft and having rollers engaging said race at points diametrically opposite the axis of said shaft.

8. In a loom comprising a driving shaft having a frictional member thereon, a driving pulley having a complementary frictional member rotatably and slidably mounted upon said shaft, means for shifting said pulley endwise of said shaft to en gage and disengage said frictional members; an end thrust bearing for compensating the endwise thrust of said pulley when in driving engagement comprising a hand wheel upon the end of said shaft having a flat race of larger diameter than said shaft, a bracket adjustably secured to the loom side, a thrust block mounted in trunnions in said bracketnormal to the axis of said shaft, and antifriction means between said thrust block and said race.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

ALONZO E. RHOADES. 

